Apparatus for use in correlating oil well logs



April 4, 1961 D. u. HALVERSON 2,977,680

APPARATS FOR USE IN CORRELATING OIL WELL LOGS nite APPARAIUS FOR USE INCORRELATING 01L WELL LOGS Donald U. Halverson, Lewstown, Mont, assignorte Texaco Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filer! July 11, 1957, Sen. No.671,238

7 Claims. (Cl. 33-1) In making a profile study using eil well legs,e.g.,

electric and/or velocity legs, the petroleum geelogist works fremCorrelations ef such well legs by making a side-by-side study of theselegs in order to study and interpret structural and stratigraphieproblems. In carrying out such correlation, the procedure employedheretofore involved the tacking up side by side ef any desired set ofwell legs, while herizentally aligning a given horizon as a datum plane.Then the various ether strata would be located on the individual legs byinserting pins through the record strips of each ef these legs. Afterthis, a string weuld be connected frem ene piri to the next of acorreSponding stratum, so that the relative structure of the variousstrata would be easily visible.

However, in carrying out the above described prier arrangement, wheheverit was desired te change the datum from one strata te anether; it weuldinvelve a lengthy and tedieus job since all ef the well log strips,except ene, would have to be unpinned and have the tacks removed beforereadjustment could be carried out. Then the whole procedure weuld haveto be repeated to set the legs up with a different stratum as the datum.

Consequently, it is an ebjectef this invention te previde apparatus forovercoming the above-indicated difiiculties.

Another ebject of this invention is te provide a rapidly adjustableapparatus, such that quick and simple changes may be carried out tofacilitate studying a given geelogical profile by adjusting the well logdata frem a given set of wells fer ebserving the changes in going frein.

ene stratigraphie horizon to the next. Thus a study may be carried outof the structural history of a given area.

Another ebject of this invention is to provide an apparatuswhereby,migration or tilting ef structure in a given geolegic cross-section maybe rapidly and more accurately studied in its relatienship te geelegictime, by making use of the teachings of this invention.

Briefiy, the invention is concerned with apparatus for useinzcorrelating eil* well legs and the like, wherein said legs arereeorded en elongated strips to a scale propertienal to the depth et thewells jlogged. The cerrelation invelvedcemprises a side-by-sidecemparison of'aplurality ofwell' legs in ord'er toalign saidj legs"trnsVersel-alonga gvendatum planeg andno observe the relative locationsof various subterraneum strata.-

The -'said apparatus comprises an elongatd morinting means for eachrecord-strip, and a means for supporting a-flplurality*ef saidmeuntingmeans side by side. Said suppeiting means are slideablelengitudinally,in parallel relation to ene anether. Thearrangement-of-sada parattusissuch that cerrelafien fera pluralityof"difietfit tes atent invention, will be,made clear by the followingmore detailed description thereef, and by the illustrations made.

in the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view shewing a complete cerrela tioh beard inaccordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the correlatien beard without any well legsattached therete;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the cerrelation beard shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cress-sectienal detail taken along the liries 44of Fig. 2.

Referrihg te Fig. 1, it will be observed that there is shown a Plralityef well log strips 11 which have iglentifying tags 12 at the top of eachstrip With capital letter designatiens, A through I. These well logstrips might take varieus ferms, but are erdinarily in the form ofphotographie paper strips having the well log data recOrded thereen in awell-known manuel.

Each of the well log strips 11 are temporarily fastened in place enteone of a plurality of fibrous material beards 13, which are eachsomewhat wider than the well log strip 11 attached therete in order toprovide for a pair of supporting guide channels 14 that overlap thelongitudinal edges of each board 13.

The well log strips 11 may be attached in a teinporary manner by varieusmeans. In the illustrated embediment they are fastened in place by useof thumb tacks 18, applied near'the ends of each strip. At the lower endet each board 13, there is a handle 19 for use in sliding the board upand clown along the guide-way formed by channels 14.

All of the beards 13 are supported by a frame or bod'y member 20 which,in this embodiment, is made up of a sheet of plyweed that has upper andlower braces 23 and 24 respectively, that extend across the top andhottom of the frame 20 to provide additional stiilness therefor. Inaddition, there may be a pair of legs 25 and 26 that are attached at thelower outside corners of the frame 20 and extend beyend the bottom edgethereof. It will be observed that lower brace 24 extends between thelegs 25 and 26 in abutting relation therewith.

It will be observed that there is employed a plurality of marlting pins30 which are inserted through the log strips 11- andinto the backingbeards 13, at given stratigraphie indications on the well legs. Inaddition, there are a plurality of connecting strings 31 which areattached to each of the marking pins 30 of a corresponding strata, asdetermined by the well legs, from one well to the next. These strings 31might take varie-us ferms,

but it is preferred te empley an elastic string or the like,-such that atant condition will remin between pins 30, irrespective of changes inthe relative positions of the various backing beards 13 for the dilerentwell legs 11.

in a horizontal aligned condition, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Thiscondition is rapidly and readily ebtained by sliding the necessary euesof the varieus beards 13 aleng their guide-way supports, 14, until allof the given stratum locatingpins 30 are preperly aligned. Thenthe'ether stratathat have been marked by the pins 30 and eachseparatelv'identifitd readily by the strings 31, may be eb" seri7edfortheir relative loactiens se that an indication Patented Apr. 4, 1961 or:the geologc history is readily obtained. It will be noted that achronological study of migration or tilting, may be rapidly carried outemploying each successive important horizon, starting at the bottom ofthe well log data available.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3, and 4, some additional structural details ofthe specific apparatus illustrated, will be pointed out. It is to benoted that although a particular structure is herein described and shownin considerable dctail, many variations and relatively wide departurefrom this showing may be made without departurc from the principles ofthisinvention.

Most of the elements have been already indicated in connection with Fig.1, but it will be noted in Fig. 4 that the guide channels 14 may befastened to the frame or bodv member 20 by means of appropriatelylocated staples 34. These staples 34 might be recessed into the materialof channels 14 if desired, but since the boards 13 are constructed ofrelatively porous or soft material, the presence of the staples 34merely serves to provide additional friction in the fit of each board 13in place in its guide channels 14.

The handles 19 may be attached to boards 13 in any convenient manner,such as by means of a screw 35 for each handle which has the headthereof located in a recess 36 formed on the underside of each board 13.

Since the illustrated structure employs a plywood frame 20 and woodenbraces 23 and 24, as well as wooden legs 25 and 26; the fasteningarrangement may include wood screws 37, as illustrated.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be noted that there is a series of smallholes 40, that are drilled through the upper surface of each of theguide channels 14 at approximately the middle of the longitudinaldimensions of the guides 14. These holes are for use in case the boards13 become worn to the extent that the friction contact thereof withtheir supporting guides 14 are insufficient to maintain the board in agiven position. Thus, pins (not shown) may be inserted through the holes40 into the edges of each board 13 after it has been set in adesiredposition so that no further movement of the board 13 may takeplace until the pins have been removed.

It is pointed out that the boards 13 are preferably constructed of arelatively porous material, such that easy application of thumb tacksmay be employed in fastening the well log strips 11 in place. Onecommercially available material, that is quite suitable in this regard,is that sold under the trademark Celotex.

While a given embodiment of the invention has been described above inconsiderable detail, in accordance with the applicable statutes, this isnot to be taken as in any way limiting the invention but merely as beingdescriptive thereof.

It is claimed:

1. Apparatus for use in correlating oil well logs to determinestructural history in a given area by aligning a plurality of diferentstratigraphie horizons wherein said logs are recorded on elongatedstrips to a scale proportional to the depth of the wells logged,comprising in combination a plurality of said well logs, a plurality ofindividual mounting means for said well logs, means for marking thelocations of said strata on said logs, means for moving said mountingmeans along the longitudinal axes thereof parallel to one another inorder to set up any desired datum for observation, means for connectingthe corresponding marking means representative of each strata to beobserved, and means for maintaining said connecting means under tensionin ordcr to provide straight lime connection from one correspondingmarking means to the next.

2. Apparatus for use in correlating oil well logs to determinestructural history in a given area by aligning a plurality of diiferentstratigraphie horizons wherein said logs are recorded on elongatedstrips to a scale pro? from one corresponding marking means to the next.

3. Apparatus for use in correlating oil well logs to determinestructural history in a given area by aligning a plurality of diflerentstratigraphie horizons wherein said logs are recorded on elongatedstrips to a scale propon tional to the depth of the wells logged,comprising in combination a plurality of said well logs a plurality ofindividual mounting means for said well logs, means for marking thelocations of said strata on said logs, support means for holding saidindividual mounting means side by side and movable longitudinally in anindividual manner in order to set up any desired datum for observation,visual thread means for connecting the corresponding marking meansrepresentative of each strata to be observed, and means for maintainingsaid connecting means under tension in order to provide straight lineconnection from one corresponding marking means to the next.

4. Apparatus for use in correlating cil well logs to determinestructural history in a given area by aligning a plurality of difierentstratigraphie horizons wherein said logs are recorded on elongatedstrips to a scale proportional to the depth of the wells logged,comprising in combination a plurality of said well logs, an elongatedbacking member for each well log record strip, a support frame forholding a plurality of said backing members side by side and slideablelongitudinally in parallel relative to one another, pin means formarking the locations of said strata on said logs when mounted on saidbacking members, and elastic thread means for connecting thecorresponding pin means of each stratum to provide straight lineconnections from one pin to the next and show the relative verticalpositions.

5. Apparatus for use in correlating oil well logs to determinestructuralhistory in a given area by aligning a plurality of difierentstratigraphic horizons wherein said logs are recorded on elongatedstrips to a scale proportional to the depth of the wells logged,comprising in combination a plurality of said well logs, an elongatedbacking member for each said well log record strip, a support framehaving a pair of guide channels for each backing member and attached toone face of said frame for slideably holding the longitudinal edges ofthe backing member, pin means for marking the locations of said strataon said logs when mounted on said backing members and elastic threadmeans for connecting the corresponding pin means of each stratum toprovide straight line connections from one pin to the next and show therelative vertical positions.

6. Apparatus for use in correlatng oil well logs to determine structuralhistory in a given area by aligning a plurality of ditferentstratigraphic horizons wherein said logs are recorded on elongatedstrips to a scale proportional to the depth of the wells logged,comprising in combination a plurality of said well logs, au elongatedfibrous material backer for each said well log record strip, a handle oneach of said backers for aid in slideably positioning the backers, aplywood sheet having a pair of guide channels for each backer locatedalong the longitudinal edges of each backer and attached to said sheet,pin means for marking the locations of said strata on said logs whenmounted on said backing members, and elastic thread means for connectingthe corresponding pin means of each stratum to provide straight litreconnections fromone pin to the next and show the relative verticalpositions.

7. Apparatus for use in correlating oil well legs to determinestructural history in a given area by aligning a plurality of dilerentstratigraphic horizons wherein said legs are recorded on elongatedstrips to a scale proportional 'to the depth of the wells logged,comprising incombination a plurality of said well legs, an elongatedfibrous material backer for each said well log record strip, a handle oneach of said backers for aid in slideably positioning the backers, aplywood sheet having a pair of guide channe]s for each backer locatedalong the longitudinal edges of each backer and attached to said sheet,pin means for marking the locations of said strata on said legs whenmounted on said backing members, elastic thread means for connecting thecorresponding pin means of each stratum to provide straight limeconnections from one pin to the next and show the relative verticalpositions, and a hole through each of said guide chnnels about midwayalong the length thereof and over the edge of the backer adjacent tosaid channel in order to provide for pins to hold said backer in a givenposition and prevent inadvertent sliding therecf.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS O'IHERREFERENCES Dorbn et al.: Exploration Geophyscs Makes Rapd 20 Strides,World Ol Magazine, April 1956, pages 129-130 relied on. (Copy in181-.53.)

